IEC - INFORMATION, EDUCATION, COMMUNICATION

1. Male Outreach Various male outreach workers visit field daily to sensitise Men and Adolescent boys on issues related to HIV/AIDS/STDs, Reproductive and Sexual Health and also about the services provided by Drishtikon. People were either contacted individually or in groups when discussion is encouraged to bring out various issues and remove any myth and misconceptions prevalent there. People with High Risk Behaviour can be identified in these meetings and later contacted for BCC. Community Based Awareness Workshops -These workshops are conducted with prior information either in their residential area or in factories. The programme is interactive with street plays, films & question - answer sessions. Those taking more interest are identified and trained as peer educators later.

. 2. Female Outreach Various female outreach workers visit residential area daily to sensitize women and adolescent girls on issues related to HIV/AIDS/STDs, Reproductive and Sexual Health and also bout the services provided by MRHC of Drishtikon. The efforts are also made to improve their health care seeking behavior. Women are also contacted in groups when they can spare more time. These meetings help raise various issues for the discussion with the whole group. Many myths and misconceptions can be sorted out easily in these meetings Community Based Awareness Workshop- These workshops are conducted with prior information in their locality. The programme is interactive with street plays, films & question answer sessions.

IEC - INFORMATION, EDUCATION, COMMUNICATION

Part and parcel of outreach, carried out through repeated person to person contacts in the field or in the center with individuals practicing high risk behaviour

CLINIC BASED ACTIVITIES

1. Clinical Services Diagnoses and treatment of all the ailments of reproductive system like infertility, menstrual irregularities, etc except those diseases involving major invasive procedures, for which a suitable referral system has been established by networking with other health care providing agencies. Detection and treatment of all the cases of STDs. Family planning facilities.

. 2. Counselling Counselling of all clinic attendee as far as possible. Counselling of all STD positive cases and their partners Family Planning Counseling Pre and post test counseling as and when needed Counseling on sexuality to male and female clientele

. 3. Laboratory Testing Blood tests for Syphilis and Hepatitis B Urethral vaginal and cervical smear for other STDs PAP smear for screening of cervical cancer Reffering to nearby VCTC for HIV testing

. 4. Partner Notification An attempt is made to get the partners of all the cases found positive for STDs to visit the center for checkup, treatment and counseling either through the patients themselves or through the field workers

Capacity Building

One to three days training workshops are held at least twice a year for different groups like:- Training on Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS along with career counseling for school dropouts and unemployed youth. Training on reproductive health HIV/AIDS/STDs, sex and sexuality for adolescent girls Training workshops for community based non formal health care workers e.g. health educators, midwives anganwadi workers and staff of other CBOs. Training of local Chemists on HIV/AIDS. Training for the private medical practitioners, including the practitioners of alternate medicine, to update their knowledge on STDs/HIV/AIDS and to enhance their skills for detection and treatment of STDs through syndromic approach.

Enabling Enviornment

One to three days training workshops are held at least twice a year for different groups like:- Community Forum: A community forum was formed in the very first year of the project to mobilize support of the community and generate a feeling of community's participation in the programme. From then on every year an informal meeting is held to share the progress made and analyse any need of change in the strategy. The forum includes political and elected leaders, medical practitioners and doctors of Govt Dispensaries, Anganwadi workers and their supervisors, principals of all the schools and NGOs working in and around Sagarpur. Advocacy Meetings: Before carrying out a programme in a particular cluster or with particular group or factory, advocacy meetings are conducted with the community leaders,/ opinion leaders/ factory owners on the issues related to HIV/AIDS. The efforts are made to create better understanding with these leaders and involve them in our activities.

Networking

Drishtikon has been networking with all the government dispensaries and de addiction centres nearby. It also enjoys a good rapport with political leaders, medical practitioners, school teachers, principals and anganwadi workers. To strengthen these relationships every year a programme is organized and all the grass root level workers, community heads along with the policy planners are brought to the same platform to share their views .

DEVELOPING IEC MATERIAL

One to three days training workshops are held at least twice a year for different groups like:- Different types of IEC materials like leaflets/handouts on STDs/HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health have been developed specifically for targeted population and distributed to each and every individual by peer educators and community mobilizers during one to one and group interactions, community meetings, etc. Various large hoardings on STDs have been installed at main approach roads of the community. Street plays have been developed on STDs/ HIV/AIDS and are played by the outreach workers during group sessions and workshops Hand made posters on Reproductive Health/ STDs/HIV/AIDS have been developed and are being used regularly for community meetings and general awareness. Different video films on HIV/AIDS and STDs depending upon the target population are shown during the meetings and in the clinic waiting area

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